Christians have no authority to commit suicide in any circumstance.
It is significant that in the sacred canonical books there can nowhere
be found any injunction or permission to commit suicide either to
ensure immortality or to avoid or escape any evil. In fact, we must
understand it to be forbidden by the law "You shall not
kill" (Exodus 20:13), particularly as there is no addition of
"your neighbor" as in the prohibition of false witness,
"You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor"
(Exodus 20:16).

St. Augustine, The City of God.[1]

The Ultimate Questions.

If a man loses his reverence for any part of life, he will lose his
reverence for all life.

Albert Schweitzer.[2]

Euthanasia: The so-called 'last right.' The inevitable and natural
followup to abortion.

Euthanasia follows abortion as certainly as night follows day.

When people speak of the philosophical aspects of euthanasia, they
will inevitably return again and again to the central focus of the
issue. They will invariably be forced to consider the two ultimate
questions regarding euthanasia.

These are;

(1) Why is euthanasia right (or wrong)?, and
(2) Should we not be able to determine the ultimate disposition of our
own
bodies?

These very logical questions may be answered on several very
different levels, as described in the following paragraphs.

Direct vs. Passive Euthanasia.

Before any intelligent discussion on euthanasia may proceed, the
critical differences between direct euthanasia, passive euthanasia, and
natural death must be precisely defined.

Note that the pro-euthanasia lobby has made much of its gains by
deliberately confusing lawmakers and the public by blurring the lines
between direct and passive euthanasia and a natural death. It is
essential for anti-euthanasia activists to know these terms intimately,
or they will be confused and ineffective in their efforts.

 Direct euthanasia is action taken for the purpose of
hastening death. These measures may include lethal injection by a
physician, or any one of a number of more clumsy methods undertaken by
amateurs such as poisoning and suffocation.

 Passive euthanasia is action withheld for the purpose of
hastening death. These measures would include the withholding or
withdrawal of non-heroic measures, to include food, hydration, and
oxygenation. One exception is noted below.

 Natural death means to allow a person to die in comfort and
peace by withholding aggressive treatment that would only cause pain
and lengthen the person's lifespan by a very modest or insignificant
amount. Note that, if the same treatment were withheld from a person
whose lifespan would be greatly lengthened by it, such action would
instead be passive euthanasia. Examples of this type of euthanasia
would be the thousands of infanticides committed each year in this
country by withholding food and water from handicapped newborns who
would otherwise have lived long lives.

Why Euthanasia is Wrong, Dead Wrong.

The remainder of this chapter discusses the reasons that the act of
euthanasia is fundamentally wrong, as listed below, and concludes by
listing a number of anti-euthanasia groups that concerned activists may
wish to join.

WHY CHRISTIANS MUST OPPOSE EUTHANASIA

(1) Euthanasia is irreversible;
(2) Euthanasia sets a bad example;
(3) Euthanasia is entropic;
(4) Euthanasia is myopic and lazy;
(5) Euthanasia is despair personified; and
(6) Euthanasia is not of God.

Reason #1: Euthanasia is
Forever.

When I visited the starving people in Ethiopia, I could hardly have
imagined that providing them with food and water, even though
artificially brought in from the Western world at tremendous expense,
would be considered 'medical treatment.'

Cardinal John J. O'Connor.[3]

Introduction.

It is a curious fact that most pro-euthanasia activists are opposed
to capital punishment, primarily because mistakes can be made when
administering the death penalty. In other words, once a person has been
executed, not even the most conclusive proof of his innocence can bring
him back to life.

Precisely the same reasoning may be used to oppose euthanasia. There
are literally scores of medical cases on record where people have been
judged to be "irreversibly comatose," and then have awakened
to lead perfectly normal lives. In fact, it is safe to say that there
are many more people who have awakened from 'irreversible' comas than
there are innocent people who have been executed in this country.

The "Right to Die" is not a right it is the
taking away of all possible rights.

Dead men don't choose.

A few cases where euthanasia was considered but rendered moot when
the patient in question recovered are outlined below.

Teisa Franklin.

This little 21-month old girl ingested a huge quantity of
anti-depressant drugs on February 4, 1988, and lapsed into a deep coma.
After a rather cursory examination, doctors at Mercy Hospital pronounced
her clinically brain dead and stated that she would be a good candidate
for organ donation. However, only 18 hours after slipping into the coma,
she began to recover, and, on February 11, only one week after the
near-fatal incident, she was released from the hospital.[4]

Erin Shanahan, Mercy Hospital's perplexed head pediatric nurse, said
that "We never would have guessed it would turn out like
this."[4]

This is precisely why the euthanasia of comatose persons is
such a dangerous practice.

Scott and Jeff Mueller.

These twin boys were born in 1981 sharing a leg and large intestine.
They were fully developed from the waist up. The attending 'physician,'
Petra Warren, decided that they were not worthy of life and attached a
"DO NOT FEED" sign to their bassinet. Several nurses disobeyed
this order and fed the babies sugar water, which saved their lives.[5]

They were successfully separated at Chicago's Children's Memorial
Hospital the following year. Scott died of heart problems in 1984, but
Jeff is thriving and lives a normal lifestyle.

Predictably, the 'parents' and the 'doctor' were let off scott-free.

Jacqueline Cole.

Mrs. Cole awoke on May 15, 1986, 47 days after lapsing into a deep
coma induced by a stroke. Her husband, a Presbyterian 'minister,' had
gone to court on May 9 just six days before to have her disconnected
from her life support systems. Fortunately for her, Baltimore Circuit
Judge John Brynes refused his request.

This 'minister' said that he had "no regrets" at trying to
allow his wife to die.[6]

Michelle Odette.

Marie Odette Henderson was 26 weeks pregnant when she was declared
brain-dead on June 7, 1986, after suffering a stroke three days earlier.
Despite the fact that she was carrying a viable baby, Miss Henderson's
parents decided to allow her and her baby to die by disconnecting her
from her life support systems.

Henderson's fiance, Derrick Poole, decided to fight for his baby's
life and obtained a court order barring Marie's disconnection until
after the baby was delivered.

Dr. Donald Dyson delivered a healthy baby girl at 33 weeks gestation.
Michelle Odette's weight was 4 pounds, 5 ounces. Marie Henderson was
then disconnected from her life support systems and died three hours
later.

However, she lives on in her child.

Carrie Coons.

Carrie A. Coons, 86, of Rensselear, New York, was declared to be in
an "absolutely irreversible vegetative state" by her doctors
after she suffered a stroke and cerebral hemorrhage in November of 1988.
For nearly five months, she neither spoke nor showed any signs of
alertness. Her 88-year old sister and various doctors and lawyers
petitioned the state Supreme Court to allow the removal of her feeding
tube. Her doctor, Michael Wolff, a nationally recognized expert in
geriatric medicine, declared that she was in a "hopeless"
state with "absolutely no chance of recovery."[7]

Coons was the first New York citizen whose petition to die was
granted by the State Supreme Court. However, just two days after the
Court granted the petition, she woke up and began to eat and speak.
Judge Joseph Harris wadded up the right-to-die writ when he heard that
she had recovered.

Neurologist Ronald Cranford of Minneapolis, a White House commission
advisor on right-to-die issues, stated that "It's a dramatic case.
It shows you that you're basically never dealing with certainties
here."[7]

Once again, this is why both direct and passive euthanasia should be
banned.

Harold Cybulski.

The doctors were all ready. 79-year old grandfather Harold Cybulski
of Barry's Bay, Ontario, had been pronounced "brain dead and
comatose," and the experts who pronounced him so stood by to
disconnect his life support systems just as soon as his family said
their last goodbyes.

When his two-year old grandson ran into the room and yelled
"Grandpa!," Cybulski woke up, sat up, and picked up the little
boy!

Six months later, he was leading a completely normal life, to include
driving the new car he had been looking forward to buying before he
became comatose.

Cybulski's doctors could find "no explanation" for his
instant recovery.[8]

Barbie Blodgett and Her Baby.

On June 30, 1988, near Yakima, Washington, the car that 24-year old
Barbie Blodgett was riding in was struck by a drunk driver. Three months
pregnant at the time, she slipped into a persistent coma, and experts
believed that she would never regain consciousness, because her
cerebrum, the large part of the brain which controls consciousness and
voluntary functions, was simply not working at all. She was unable to
speak or eat and was fed through a stomach tube.[9]

Other experts predicted grimly that the baby she was carrying would
die and/or would worsen her condition to the point of death.

However, her pro-life family maintained hope and continued to pray.
And on December 9, 1988, 8-pound Simon Alan Blodgett was born perfectly
healthy. Dr. Thomas Benedetti, director of perinatal medicine at the
University of Washington School of Medicine, stated that this was the
fourth instance known of a comatose woman giving birth.[9]

The day after the baby was born, Barbara Blodgett recognized her son,
Simon, and began to regain consciousness. A month later, she could
communicate and feed her newborn. A year later, she was still partially
paralyzed and had to communicate via a computer keyboard. But she said
that she "hoped to walk and talk before Simon does," and
seemed ready to achieve the goals she had set for herself.[9]

Conclusions.

In every one of the cases described above and in dozens of others
that go unreported every year people were condemned to death by
health professionals who were all "absolutely certain" that
they would never recover.

And, in a large percentage of these cases, the patient did
recover, either partially or completely.

In light of this dismal prediction record, it is perfectly obvious
that, when dealing with PVS patients, there is no such thing as a
"sure thing." It is also quite obvious that the primary
motivations of the so-called 'health' professionals are the conservation
of medical resources and cost containment, not the conservation or
betterment of human life.

It is truly the height of irony that our society will spend literally
millions of dollars on multiple appeals to make absolutely certain that
every person executed by the State is guilty of some heinous crime but
is so reluctant to take the same kind of care with those whose only
crime is being deemed 'life not worthy of life' by the medical
profession.

Reason #2: Euthanasia Sets
a Bad Example.

Evil committed for a good cause remains evil.
Even when it succeeds?
Above all when it succeeds.

Victor Hugo, History of a Crime (1877).[10]

The Payback Is Coming.

Regardless of whether or not we like it, our primary function as
adults in this society is to set the example for younger and less
experienced persons even if we have no children ourselves. After all,
what we teach the young will largely determine how they run the world
after they inherit it and this, in turn, will determine what kind of
world our grandchildren will inherit.

What we teach the young will also determine how they treat us
when we are elderly and infirm.

Impacts On Teen Suicide.

The teen suicide rate in this country has tripled in the last fifteen
years to more than 2,500 deaths per year, as discussed in Chapter 88 of
Volume II, "Suicide by Teenagers." We read about suicide pacts
and teen murder/suicides on a weekly basis. Experts in the demographics
of suicide (suicidologists) already call this situation 'epidemic.'

What kind of an example does Janet Adkins give to teenagers when she
kills herself just because her piano playing is beginning to
deteriorate? Or because she may experience some unknown degree of
pain eight to ten years down the road pain that could easily be
alleviated?

How will we tell a despondent teenager that he has no right to kill
himself if the cheerleader he adores spurns him? How about the young
girl whose pet cat dies? Or who becomes pregnant too soon? Or the boy
who doesn't make the baseball team? Or who gets a failing grade on his
report card?

Teenagers don't respond to a double standard. They don't accept the
adage "Do as I say, not as I do." If euthanasia becomes legal
and accepted by society, we must expect our 'epidemic' of teen suicide
to become a 'pandemic,' with 10,000 to 20,000 additional cases per year.
How will we react to a pandemic of teen suicide without appearing (and
being) grossly hypocritical?

Reason #3: Euthanasia is
Entropic.

Disorder = Death.

Entropy is the measure of the degree of disorder of systems. And all
systems from the smallest to the largest, and from the simplest to the
most complex tend to accumulate entropy, unless positive steps are taken
to prevent this process. This immutable principle applies equally to
living and nonliving systems.

Changing States.

Every type of system requires effort in order to maintain it in an
ordered state. Every type of system, if it is neglected, will begin to
decay and disintegrate.

 A lawn will sprout weeds unless the gardener remains vigilant.
Eventually, if it is not cared for, the lawn will return to its
original riotous, biologically diverse, and disordered state.

 A pickup truck will rust, detune, and accumulate beer cans
unless the driver has pride of ownership. Eventually, if it is not
maintained, it will fall apart and will be hauled to a junkyard.

 We read lately about our country's deteriorating
infrastructure. Our roads, bridges, and water and sewer systems are
falling apart because not enough maintenance money is allocated to
them. The fight against disorder is being lost.

 Our bodies, as they age, accumulate aches and pains as organs
wear out and begin to malfunction. We must feed our bodies the proper
foods, exercise, and refrain from destructive activities like the use
of tobacco products, illegal drugs, and excessive alcohol. Eventually,
if our bodies are not maintained, they will sicken and die far too
soon.

 Our consciences require constant exercise and discipline. If we
do not maintain constant vigilance over our attitudes and beliefs, we
will become self-centered. We will live only for self-gratification.
Eventually, our consciences will sicken and die.

 A society requires unselfish, hard-working, imaginative and
patriotic individuals for its survival. When its individual members
become obsessed with themselves and their own selfish pleasures, a
society will sicken and eventually be absorbed by other cultures. This
principle holds true even for animal-based clans and troops.

 The principle of increasing entropy applies even to the largest
system of all the universe. As long as prodigious quantities of energy
in all its forms is being exchanged, the universe will live on.
However, tens of billions of years from now, the universe will 'wind
down' and will experience its 'heat death,' when everything is the
same temperature and entropy (disorder) is at a maximum.

Anti-Life Entropy.

Entropy, while a fact of life everywhere, is considered 'bad' in
virtually all cases. When highly organized systems (i.e., cars,
computers, bodies, minds and societies) increase their degree of entropy
drastically, they will rust, break down, or die.

The anti-life mentality is essentially entropic. It favors
contraception, sterilization, abortion, and euthanasia. This strange
mindset strives to destroy the natural and efficient function of the
human reproductive system, and ultimately, considers man to be just
another animal.

Curiously, while it considers humanity just another species of
animal, it fails to recognize that non-instinct driven euthanasia is
unknown in the animal world.

If It Grows Alone Watch It!

It is a universal axiom that anything manmade that is 'good' is
difficult to initiate, maintain, or expand, while it is difficult to prevent
what is 'bad' from spontaneously initiating, continuing, or expanding.

In other words, 'bad' manmade or man-influenced things grow by
themselves; 'good' things must be continuously nurtured.

As stated above, a 'good' lawn requires continuous maintenance or it
will sprout 'bad' weeds all over the place; a 'good' truck requires
constant attention or it will become rusted and detuned; a 'good'
teenager must be nurtured or he will acquire 'bad' habits like drug or
alcohol use. Lawns do not police themselves, and trucks do not tune and
maintain themselves.

By commutative reasoning, we may infer that whatever is
man-influenced and grows by itself is 'bad.' This is particularly true
of social issues.

Abortion is a good example of this reasoning. In a period of just
five years, it expanded relentlessly, almost effortlessly, from a few
exceptions in a few states to a universal 'right' available through all
nine months of pregnancy all over the country. By contrast, a 'good'
social expansion is the civil rights movement, which required decades of
struggle on many fronts, the martyrdom of dozens, and is still not
complete.

Another 'good' example of civil rights activism is our own pro-life
(anti-abortion) movement, which must struggle relentlessly against the
full weight of the media and the state and Federal governments. Every
small advance must be vigilantly guarded, or it will be reabsorbed
quickly and effortlessly.

We can see that euthanasia is expanding relentlessly and
effortlessly, just as abortion did twenty years ago. We began our
euthanasia 'program' with a few extreme cases allowing those in extreme
agony, days from dying, to pass away peacefully and passively and now,
we annually have thousands of handicapped newborns dying of neglect and
many more thousands of elderly secretly 'put away' by our doctors and
nursing homes.

Making Our Bed ...

One good way of telling whether something is "good" or
"bad" is by measuring the amount of confusion it causes
(confusion being defined in this case as hindrance(s) to communication
and/or understanding). If something is incomprehensible to the common
man, it is usually something that is not in his best interests. If a
social proposal is confusing and undecipherable, it is usually something
that Neoliberals are trying to "slip by" us.

As always, anyone who sees the euthanasia issue in "black and
white" terms is condemned as "simplistic" by the Hemlock
Society and other Neoliberal organizations. It is in the best interests
of these groups to make the issue appear to be as complicated and as
vague as possible, because then the vast majority of the public will
feel timid and unqualified to comment or even hold an opinion on it.

This is the mighty weapon of "mystagoguery" that worked so
well for the pro-abortionists, particularly regarding the issue of
"when life begins." Now the Neoliberals are trying to confuse
us as to when human life ends.

Reason #4: The Euthanasia
Mentality is Myopic and Lazy.

Pro-euthanasia lobbyists are notoriously shortsighted and
unimaginative. They believe that everyone should be able to do away with
themselves, and they also believe that society has no interest in such
self-destructive acts.

This is unmitigated rubbish. Every person who enters our society
develops, throughout his life, a web of relationships so complex that it
can never be completely summarized or traced. Every person significantly
affects hundreds of other members of this society every year, often
without realizing it.

A society-system is roughly analogous to a human body. Its major
cities represent organs; the capital is the brain (in the United States,
this 'brain' appears to be mentally handicapped); the interstate
highways are the arteries, and local roads are the capillaries, carrying
nutrients to every cell. We, as individuals, might represent blood cells
conveying nutrients to every other cell and organ in the body.

In this setting, euthanasia could be considered a type of leukemia,
where individual blood cells start destroying themselves randomly and at
an ever-increasing rate.

No human body can live with an acute case of leukemia, and no society
can endure if its people destroy themselves at a high enough rate.

All of a healthy body's cells work together to promote the common
good of the body. Similarly, individual persons work together to advance
the common good of society. Each of us plays a vital part in this
many-faceted corpus. Just as our bodies could not survive if
individual cells took it upon themselves to randomly 'self-destruct,'
our society cannot tolerate the accelerated destruction of individuals
without serious damage.

Reason #5: Euthanasia is
Despair Personified.

What deeper expression of despair is there than to kill oneself?

Everyone has, at one time or another, experienced despair so deep
that they may have even thought of how easy it would be to just 'let go'
and die. This kind of depression is no joke, and it does no good to
simply tell the person to just "Snap out of it!"

This kind of despair can easily lead to one of the more than 25,000
suicides this country suffers annually.

Perhaps the greatest sorrow of all is to see a person totally without
hope. This is because, as long as there is a means to thwart one's
troubles, hope remains. When a person has lost all hope, he has lost all
faith that he has any control over his situation.

Our society's emphasis on "choice" and "control"
has aggravated this problem terribly. We are told that we cannot have
control if we cannot have an infinite universe of choices or avenues of
action. Therefore, we have become conditioned to think that, if we lose
options, we have lost control of our lives. And, if we lose control of
our lives, those lives are not worth living. We come to think of
ourselves as less than human if we cannot have total control all of the
time.

This is nonsense. As long as we are living, we can seek to improve
our situation. We can actually generate choices ourselves if we have
been trained to possess initiative and imagination. To kill oneself, of
course, is to really lose control of the situation.

Once again, dead people don't make choices.

Reason #6: Euthanasia is
Not of God.

Intentionally causing one's own death, or suicide, is therefore
equally as wrong as murder; such an action on the part of a person is
to be considered as a rejection of God's sovereignty and loving plan.

The Vatican's "Declaration on Euthanasia."[11]

Just as God created us for missions that only He knows, He reserves
for Himself the right to call us home. We are His finest creations, the
only creations made in His image, and we have no right to destroy
ourselves. The Fifth Commandment does not refer only to acts committed
against others it prohibits the abuse and destruction of our own bodies
and souls.

The idea of voluntarily undergoing suffering is entirely alien to the
Modernist/Neoliberal mind. Once God has been eliminated from the
equation of life, we feel no obligation to Him and have no patience for
the burdens He may lay on us from time to time.

There are times in our lives when we must suffer, and times
when we must surrender control to others. Christians realize that
their sufferings are only a pale shadow of what Christ Himself endured
for our redemption.

To reject the life that God gave us is also, in a larger sense, to
reject Christ Himself.

Anti-Euthanasia Groups.

No matter how talented and experienced a person is, he will almost
always accomplish more if he joins an organization with other people who
share his goals.

The following pro-life organizations oppose euthanasia in the United
States and possess resources and experience that any anti-euthanasia
activist will find useful. Those parents whose children are afflicted
with handicaps may also want to consult the extensive list of
organizations that support children with birth defects that is contained
in Chapter 39 of Volume II, "Birth Defect Support Groups."

ALL produces, gathers and disseminates
pro-life activist and legislative information on a national scale with
an excellent monthly magazine entitled ALL About Issues, and a
biweekly legislative/activist newsletter entitled Communique. ALL
lobbies vigorously for pro-life groups, and supports various methods of
direct action for saving the preborn and the born who are threatened
with death.

AUL is a public interest law firm defending
anti-abortion, anti-infanticide, and anti-euthanasia activists. It also
publishes AUL Studies in Law and Medicine, dealing with the legal
and historical aspects of specific topics.

Center for the Rights of the Disabled2319 18th Avenue South
Fargo, North Dakota 58103

The primary goal of the CAC is to get people
of all faiths involved in the struggle against abortion, infanticide,
and euthanasia. Its national headquarters has an excellent reading list
of material on abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, and the Christian
response.

The HLC is an educational resource center
with an extensive and up-to-date library of research materials and
"Life Issue Files" drawn from various publications all over
the world. The HLC is considered to be the national center of pro-life
material on euthanasia, and offers a "Euthanasia Packet,"
which includes copies of materials that groups like the Hemlock Society
and Americans Against Human Suffering use in their relentless drive to
secure the 'right' to kill born human beings. The HLC also
publishes Human Life Issues and the International Review
(formerly the International Review of Natural Family Planning).

HLI fights abortion, the "right to
die," and International Planned Parenthood on a global level. HLI
has an expert staff of consultants, researchers, and advisors, including
Mother Teresa of Calcutta. HLI publishes HLI Reports and HLI
Special Reports on the status of the pro- and anti-life movements
all over the world.

This group provides support and training for
lawyers who defend critically ill and disabled people against
discrimination and publishes the quarterly Issues in Law and Medicine.

National Right to Life Committee (NRLC)

The primary purpose of NRLC is to sponsor
community, legislative, and political action to oppose or change current
and proposed liberal abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia laws. Local
RTL chapters usually maintain excellent video and book libraries.

A list of the fifty state Right to Life affiliates and their
addresses and phone numbers is shown in Chapter 20 of Volume I,
"Pro-Life Organizations."

References: Introduction to Euthanasia.

[1] St. Augustine. The City of God. Translated by Henry
Bettenson. Penguin Books, Book I, Chapter 20, page 31. Also quoted in ALL
About Issues, June-July 1986, page 42.

[2] Albert Schweitzer, quoted in National Right to Life News,
September 14, 1987, page 14.

[3] Cardinal John J. O'Connor. Quoted in the 1989 Oregon Right to
Life convention program entitled "Euthanasia: Is Killing
Compassionate?"

[4] Leslie Bond. "Girl Eyed as Potential Organ Donor Now Doing
Fine." National Right to Life News, March 24, 1988, page 11.

[5] Front Line Updates. "Siamese Twin Scott Mueller Dies." National
Right to Life News, May 2, 1985, page 4.

[6] Leslie Bond. "Woman Awakens From Coma After Court Reject's
Husband's Request to Withdraw Treatment." National Right to Life
News, October 9, 1986, pages 1 and 10.

[7] Leslie Bond. "Starvation Order Hastily Rescinded As Carrie
Coons Awakens From So-Called "Irreversible" PVS." National
Right to Life News, April 27, 1989, pages 5 and 7. Also see Nat
Hentoff. "Not 'Hopeless Case' After All." National Right to
Life News, May 11, 1989, page 4.

[9] John Wolcott. "The Barbie Blodgett Story." Living
World (publication of International Life Services, Inc.). Vol. 5,
No. 2, pages 8 to 10. Also see David H. Andrusko. "Comatose
Pregnant Woman Gives Birth, Then Comes Out of Coma." National
Right to Life News, February 16, 1989, pages 1 and 10.

[10] Victor Hugo, History of a Crime (1877). Quoted in ALL
About Issues, June-July 1990, page 38.

[11] The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
"Declaration on Euthanasia." Paragraph I3. May 5, 1980. 14
pages. Order for 20 cents from the Daughters of St. Paul, 50 St. Paul's
Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02130.

Further Reading: Euthanasia (Introduction).

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin. Consistent Ethic of Life.
Sheed & Ward, 115 East Armour Boulevard, Post Office Box 419492,
Kansas City, Missouri 64141, telephone: 1-800-333-7373. 1988, 287 pages.
This book consists of three parts: (1) The texts of 10 addresses by
Cardinal Bernardin, the originator of the "seamless garment"
theory. This series of addresses considers the topics of genetic
engineering, abortion, modern welfare, the terminally ill, and capital
punishment; (2) symposium papers by several authors on the
"seamless garment," including renegade Jesuit Richard A.
McCormick and Sidney Callahan; and (3) and the Cardinal's response to
the symposium.

Biblical Reflections on Modern Medicine. This 12-page monthly magazine consists of detailed comments and
essays on recent developments in the field of medicine from a Scriptural
standpoint, with an emphasis on those procedures that threaten human
life: Infanticide, abortion, and euthanasia. Write to Covenant
Distributors, Box 4009, Martinez, Georgia 30917-4009.

James Bopp, Jr. Human Life and Health Care Ethics. National Right to Life Educational Trust Fund, 1985. 320 pages.
Reviewed by Thomas Marzen on pages 6 and 11 of the October 24, 1985 National
Right to Life News. A thorough review of the fundamental issues
revolving about providing or withholding medical treatment.

Paul A. Bryne, M.D. Understanding Brain Death. Order from American Life League, Post Office Box 2250, Stafford,
Virginia 22554. Is "brain death" really the death of the
person? This booklet examines this critical question.

Daniel Callahan. Setting Limits: Medical Goals in an Aging
Society. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987. 256 pages. Reviewed by David H.
Andrusko on pages 8 to 10 of the April 21, 1988 National Right to
Life News and by Gary Crum, Ph.D., on page 38 of the January 1989
issue of ALL About Issues. This book, disturbing because it is
written by the Director of the Hastings Center, contains all of the
standard pro-euthanasia slogans and logic, and is particularly
frightening as it originates with the director of the nation's most
prestigious bioethical "think-tank."

Catholic Health Association. A Time To Be Old, a Time to
Flourish: The Special Needs of the Elderly At-Risk. Report of the Catholic Health Association's Task Force on Long-Term
Health Care. 1988, 109 pages. Order from the Catholic Health
Association, 4455 Woodson Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63134. Telephone:
(314) 427-2500.

Robert P. Craig, Carl L. Middleton, and Laurence J. O'Connell. Ethics
Committees: A Practical Approach. The Catholic Health Association of the United States, 4455 Woodson
Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63134-0889. 1986, 95 pages. Topics covered
include the functions of Catholic institutional (hospital) ethics
committees, their structure, membership, formation, religious
perspectives on them, their history and role, and the roles of the five
key players: The administrator, the medical staff, nursing staff,
theologian/ethicist, and the bishop.

Joni Earckeson. When is it Right to Die?
Zondervan Press, 1992, 176 pages. Reviewed by William Griffin on page 8
of the November 8, 1992 issue of Catholic Twin Circle. The
author, known to millions of Christians simply as "Joni,"
became quadriplegic 25 years ago as a result of a diving accident. Since
then, she has made movies, painted hundreds of works of art by holding a
brush in her mouth, and has become politically involved for the
handicapped. In this book, she offers hope and practical advice for the
seriously handicapped and addresses the moral, emotional, philosophical
and spiritual aspects of the euthanasia issue. This book is written by
one who knows and would be a good primer on the euthanasia issue.

Ethics & Medics. Subtitled A Catholic Perspective on Moral Issues in the Health
and Life Sciences, this venerable monthly comments on all of the
important developments in the life issues, to include animal rights and
euthanasia. Subscribe by writing to The Pope John Center, 186 Forbes
Road, Braintree, Massachusetts 02184, telephone: (617) 848-6965.

Greenhaven Press. Death and Dying: Opposing Viewpoints.
Greenhaven Press Opposing Viewpoints Series, Post Office Box 289009, San
Diego, California 92128-9009. 1987, 215 pages. Each section includes
several essays by leading authorities on both sides of each issue. The
questions asked are: "How Should One Cope With Death?;"
"How Can Suicide Be Prevented?;" "Is Infant Euthanasia
Ever Justified?;" "Should Euthanasia Be Allowed?;" and
"Do the Dying Need Alternative Care?" Authors include Helga
Kuhse, Melinda Delahoyde, Peter Singer, Charles Krauthammer, and David
H. Andrusko. This topic is covered by a series of books, beginning with
a basic set of essays entitled Sources and continuing with an
additional and updated annual series of essays. A catalog is available
from the above address and can be obtained by calling 1-(800) 231-5163.

Greenhaven Press. Euthanasia: Opposing Viewpoints.
Greenhaven Press Opposing Viewpoints Series, Post Office Box 289009, San
Diego, California 92128-9009. 1989, 231 pages. Five sections featuring
essays written by leading activists on both sides of the euthanasia
debate: "Is Euthanasia Ethical?;" "What Policy Should
Guide Euthanasia?;" "What Criteria Should Influence Euthanasia
Decisions?;" "Who Should Make the Euthanasia Decision?;"
and "Is Infant Euthanasia Ethical?" This book provides
excellent debating and research background for the anti-euthanasia
activist. A catalog is available from the above address and can be
obtained by calling 1-(800) 231-5163.

Germain Grisez and Joseph Boyle. Life and Death and Liberty and
Justice. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1979. Reviewed by
Richard Stith on pages 185 to 189 of the Summer 1979 issue of the International
Review of Natural Family Planning. An extraordinarily detailed and
broad examination of all of the primary areas of contention in the
euthanasia battle. Considered by most to be a 'must read' for serious
anti-euthanasia activists.

The Human Life Review. This is a superbly presented scholarly journal modeled after the
most distinguished psychobiology periodicals, and is published by the
Human Life Foundation. It is mailed quarterly, and contains about 150
pages of essays by the best-known pro-life authors in the world,
primarily on the legal and sociological aspects of abortion and its
loathsome offspring, infanticide and euthanasia. One of the favorite
topics of the authors is the continued lack of decisive action by the
Catholic Church and other institutions. This excellent chronicle of the
American Holocaust and its many effects is must reading for the serious
pro-life activist. The nation's top conservative writers examine the
anti-life philosophy in clinical and brilliant detail with their
scholarly and insightful articles. Most back issues are available. Back
issues, both bound and unbound, are available from: Editorial Office,
150 East 35th Street, Room 840, New York, New York 10016. Telephone:
(212) 685-5210, FAX: (212) 696-0309.

Jack Kevorkian. Prescription: Medicide: The Goodness of Planned
Death. Prometheus Books, 59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, New York 14228.
1991, 262 pages. Jack ("The Dripper") Kevorkian gives us some
of his revolutionary ideas in the area of human beings putting other
human beings to death. He primarily addresses the suitability of those
condemned to death row as "organ farms," organ harvesting, and
medical experimentation. Kevorkian refers to any limits on his
activities as "stone-age," and rejects out of hand any kind of
Christian morality whatever. This is a fascinating book for anyone who
wants the goals of the euthanasia movement clearly outlined, because
Kevorkian seems to be the only person on the pro-euthanasia side who is
honest enough to speak of them truthfully.

Eike-Henner W. Kluge. The Practice of Death. London: Yale University Press. 1975, 250 pages. The author ties
together in a general manner the philosophy and tactics of all of the
pro-death movements: Abortion, infanticide, suicide, euthanasia, and 'senicide.'
Although the book is nearly twenty years old, it is still relevant
today.

C. Everett Koop, M.D., and Timothy Johnson, M.D. Let's Talk: An
Honest Conversation on Critical Issues.
Zondervan Press, 1992, 144 pages. Reviewed by William Griffin on page 8
of the November 8, 1992 issue of Catholic Twin Circle. A former
Surgeon General of the United States and ABC-TV's medical editor discuss
the critical issues of abortion, euthanasia, AIDS, and health care. Both
writers are Christians who disagree on some of the issues, and this
book, which is a published version of their informal debates, helps
Christians examine some of the more arcane and complicated aspects of
the above issues.

Gerald A. Larue. Euthanasia and Religion: A Survey of the
Attitudes of World Religions and the Right-to-Die. Los Angeles: Hemlock Society, 160 pages, 1985. Using church and
other documents, the author describes the positions on euthanasia held
by 29 major religious denominations. There is special emphasis on the
positions of the Jews, Roman Catholics, and Greek Orthodox on this
subject.

Father Paul Marx, OSB. And Now ... Euthanasia (second
revised edition). Human Life International, 7845-E Airpark Road, Gaithersburg,
Maryland 20879. Telephone: (301) 670-7884. 1985, 106 pages. This little
book, directed at the general reader, offers an up-to-date assessment of
the euthanasia situation in the United States and other countries. The
basic history of euthanasia, the tactics of the pro-killing people, and
the role of the courts are examined. Essential basic reading for the
beginning anti-euthanasia activist.

James J. Mulligan. Choose Life. The Pope John XXIII Medical-Moral Research & Education Center,
Braintree, Massachusetts 02184. 1991, 370 pages. This unusual book
consists of a series of short stories that describe in layman's terms
the philosophical debates surrounding bioethical issues of our time. The
stories do not focus as much on specific issues as they do on the
general concepts surrounding biomedical ethics. A good primer for those
researching and pondering general concepts regarding abortion and
euthanasia.

National Conference of Catholic Bishops and the United States
Catholic Conference. Pastoral Letters of the United States Catholic
Bishops. Five volumes, 2,630 pages.Volume I: 1792-1940. Publication Number 880, 480 pages.
Covers the Age of John Carroll (1792-1828), the Provincial Councils
(1829-1849), the Plenary Councils (1852-1884), and between the World
Wars (1919-1940). Some of the pastoral letters include the 1932
Resolution on Indecent Literature and the 1939 Statement on Peace and
War.Volume II: 1941-1961. Publication Number 885, 270 pages.
Includes statements on a good peace, war and peace, secularism,
compulsory military service, the Christian family, the child,
persecution behind the Iron Curtain, censorship, the secular press, and
bigotry.Volume III: 1962-1974. Publication Number 870, 500
pages. Includes statements on the government and birth control, clerical
celibacy, abortion, human life, birth control laws, population and the
American future, and the Human Life Amendment.Volume IV: 1975-1983. Publication Number 875, 605 pages.
Statements include the Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities and
resolutions on abortion and human sexuality.Volume V: 1983-1988. Publication Number 200-4, 775 pages.
Statements include the Updated Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities and
resolutions on abortion and school-based clinics.
All volumes may be ordered from the Office of Publishing Services,
United States Catholic Conference, 1312 Massachusetts Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20005.

David N. O'Steen, Ph.D. "Euthanasia: Modern America's
Rendezvous with Death." This booklet examines the role of the media and the court system in
advancing the cause of euthanasia in this country, and shows what
pro-lifers can do to stop the tide of legal killing that looms just
ahead. Booklets are free for one copy or 35 cents for multiple copies
from: National Right to Life Committee Educational Trust Fund, 419 7th
Street NW, Suite 500,

Professor Charles E. Rice. 50 Questions on Abortion,
Euthanasia, and Related Issues. Order from: Life Issues Bookshelf, Sun Life, Thaxton, Virginia
24174, telephone: (703) 586-4898. This book examines the tactics and
approaches used by the pro-life movement to fight abortion and
euthanasia, and the various sources and causes of conflict between
individuals and organizations within the Movement. Every activist and
pro-life group should use this book as an aid to examining their
attitudes toward the issues and toward their fellow activists.

Roman Catholic Church, Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the
Faith. Declaration on Euthanasia, 1980, contained in Contemporary
Catholic Social Teaching, number 704-9). This and other encyclicals that are landmarks in Catholic social
teaching are available from the Daughters of St. Paul, 50 St. Paul
Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02130, telephone: (617) 522-8911, and the
United States Catholic Conference Publishing Service, 3211 Fourth
Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017-1194, telephone: 1-800-541-3090.

A.R. Saqueton, M.D. In Defense of Life.
ARS Publishing Company, 1981. 232 pages. Reviewed by Felicia Goeken on
page 9 of the May 10, 1982 issue of National Right to Life News
and page 11 of the July 8, 1982 issue of the same publication. The
'Right to Die,' Living Wills, terminal conditions, and many other
aspects of euthanasia are contained in this primer-type work.

Earl Shelp. Born to Die?New York: Free Press, 1986. 206 pages. A candid endorsement of
euthanasia and infanticide for all the usual reasons, including 'quality
of life' and cost containment. Reviewed by Rosemary Bottcher on pages 5
and 6 of the October 23, 1986 issue of National Right to Life News.

Beth Spring and Ed Larson. Euthanasia: Spiritual, Medical &
Legal Issues in Terminal Health Care.
Multnomah Press, 10209 SE Division Street, Portland, Oregon 97226. 1988,
220 pages. A very good general and basic primer on the various issues
surrounding a debate that is becoming more and more intense. The book
covers the medical realities of aging; euthanasia and the law; the
leading views of prominent ethicists and theologians; the traditional
and current Christian perspectives and their logic and roots; living
wills; and hospice care. The book also suggests a detailed action plan
in Christian response to the euthanasia threat.

United States Government. Report of the Commission on the
Evaluation of Pain. The assessment of pain to determine eligibility and disability
payments under Titles 2 and 16 of the Social Security Act, the
definition of pain, and the major concerns regarding acute and chronic
pain. Serial Number 017-070-00427-0, 1987, 220 pages. Order by mail from
Superintendent of Documents, United States Government Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402, or by telephone from (202) 783-3238.

Robert N. Wennberg. Terminal Choices: Euthanasia, Suicide, and
the Right to Die. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 255 Jefferson Avenue SE,
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503. 1989, 250 pages. This book covers a lot of
ground in moderate depth, including the basics of euthanasia in general,
a definition and description of the issues surrounding self-euthanasia
(suicide), the morality of suicide, voluntary active euthanasia, passive
euthanasia, the refusal of life-sustaining treatment, the permanently
unconscious patient, and the issues surrounding the legalization of
active euthanasia.